Barnaby Joyce has confirmed he has spoken with the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, as he weighs a possible move to the far-right party after a spectacular breakdown in his relationship with the Nationals.
However, Joyce insisted on Monday that “nothing is locked in”.
The former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister on Monday morning addressed questions about his future for the first time since announcing his intention to quit the country party and not re-contest the New South Wales seat of New England.
In a message to Nationals members on Saturday, Joyce said that left him “free to consider all options”, fuelling speculation he was poised to defect to One Nation after revelations he had been considering the move.
The decision not to run again in New England leaves open the potential to serve out his term in the lower house before seeking a switch to the Senate, possibly on the One Nation ticket.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
Joyce confirmed he had spoken with Hanson about six weeks ago in Canberra, and again for 5-10 minutes on Sunday night out of “politeness” after two days of sustained media coverage about his possible defection to her party.
He said nothing was confirmed, noting he was yet to formally quit the National party.
“I spoke to Pauline maybe a month and a half ago, briefly,” Joyce told Sunrise.
“I actually did ring her last night. I said g’day – nothing is locked in.
“Let’s just take it down a step, I have not joined One Nation. I have not actually at this point in time resigned from the Nationals.”
Several Nationals MPs including the leader, David Littleproud, are holding out hope that Joyce could be convinced to remain with the party.
But the 58-year-old has all but shut the door on that prospect. Joyce on Monday pointed to an irreparable breakdown in his relationship with Littleproud, citing the leader’s decision to effectively bar him from campaigning outside his electorate during the May election and then dumping him from the frontbench to promote “generational change”.
“Obviously the relationship with David was less than spectacular. I mean, I think if we say anything else, it’s not being truthful,” Joyce said in an interview with ABC radio on Monday.
“I wish people all the best. I just, I’m not going to leave sort of bitter and twisted and angry. I just, you know, honestly, I wish people all the very best. That’s what I actually do. Like most things, you feel a lot better when you’re not angry. So I’m not angry now because I’ve said I’m getting out.”
Nationals MP Michael McCormack – who also once led the party – said he hoped Joyce did not defect.
“Barnaby’s been a force of nature for regional Australia and he’s done a lot of good things,” McCormack told the ABC.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
